Ever stricter regulations with regard to permissible pollutants from motor vehicles in which internal combustion engines are arranged make it necessary to keep the pollutant emissions as low as possible in the internal combustion engine. In this context it is a requirement to ensure an easily reproducible operation of the respective injection valve and to detect possible errors in good time. Component tolerances, operating time since commissioning of the injection valve and operating conditions of the injection valve in particular have an influence on the behavior of the injection valve in this connection.